Wisconsin must restore respect for Wisconsin’s public schools and educators and listen to teachers and education support professionals, who have the best interests of students at heart, State Superintendent Tony Evers said Thursday in his annual State of Education Address.

“Our educators are on the front lines of these challenges,” he said “So when they speak up about bad education policy, deteriorating schools, or the massive teacher exodus we’re facing, they’re doing right by our kids. And we should listen. They’re reminding us that education – like democracy – doesn’t come for free. It must be nurtured, sustained, and invested in over time.”

Evers called for reinvesting in public schools, “so that every kid can thrive.”

“Together,” he said, “we can bring civility and collaboration back to public education and to public life.”

Evers said education remains – as it has always been – “the great equalizer” and the pathway to prosperity, as well as the key to a skilled workforce and a robust economy.

But, he said, Wisconsin’s priorities are out of whack.

“Today in Wisconsin we’re spending less on our public schools than we did eight years ago – putting us below the national average. We serve over 50,000 English learners – and that number is growing. We serve over 120,000 special needs students. Four in every 10 kids are economically disadvantaged.

Evers noted that over the past few years, more than 1.1 million residents throughout the state rallied behind public education and voted to raise their own taxes to support their schools.

“Now is the time to adopt a transformational education budget that responds to this call,” he said. “A budget that provides educators what they deserve: the resources they need to meet the needs of our kids. A budget that increases opportunities, closes gaps, and allows for competitive compensation.

“We must continue raising our voices until they can no longer be ignored,” Evers concluded. “Together, we can restore respect for Wisconsin schools and educators. Together, we can reinvest in our schools so that every kid can thrive. Together, we can bring civility and collaboration back to public education and to public life.”

State Superintendent Tony Evers on Sunday unveiled a state education budget proposal that increases state funding of public K-12 schools by $1.4 billion over the next two years and achieves two-thirds state funding of education.

“The budget I’m submitting responds to the very real challenges our schools and educators face each and every day,” Evers said. “It changes how we fund our schools and provides resources to our educators to meet the needs of every child.”

Specifically, the budget:

Makes an unprecedented $600 million investment in special education, increasing the reimbursement rate from 25 percent to 60 percent, while expanding funding for English learners and rural schools.

Provides nearly $64 million more for student mental health funding, a tenfold increase.

Funds full-day 4-year-old kindergarten for the state’s youngest learners, creates the state’s first funding stream for after-school programs, and establishes new opportunities for children in the largest urban school districts.

Reforms the state’s broken school finance system to help districts of all sizes, including revenue limit fairness so lower spending districts can catch up and all districts can plan for the future.

“Our students deserve our support as they prepare to inherit this great state,” Evers said. “As parents, fellow educators, taxpayers, and citizens of Wisconsin, I ask for your support during the 2019-21 biennial budget process so that every child gets a shot at a great Wisconsin education.”

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Wisconsin’s K-12 public schools would receive a nearly $1.7 billion increase in state funding over the current budget cycle under state Superintendent Tony Evers’ two-year budget proposal released Sunday. Evers, the Democrat challenging Gov. Scott Walker in the Nov.

Milwaukee Public School students and classrooms have been systematically defunded. Tattered textbooks, crowded classrooms, and shrinking art, music, and physical education classes are just a few of the consequences our students and educators face thanks to Scott Walker’s unprecedented public education cuts. In addition to Walker’s cuts, MPS students also face a structural disparity in per pupil funding when compared to their suburban counterparts.

MPS administration has for too long accepted and passed these cuts on to our students and classrooms. Top this with the fact administration continues to entertain toxic proposals from privatizers that will hand over our schools to private operators. Enough! When will administration put their foot down and demand better for our students?

Riverside High School students and educators rallied and walked in together on Tuesday morning to call attention to the cuts (Photo: Joe Brusky).

Now MPS is proposing an additional 5% across the board cut to students and schools and massive healthcare and benefits cuts to the same education workers already burdened by years of cuts. MPS educators have stepped in to fill the void left by state budgets by purchasing snacks, clothing, and basic classroom supplies for their students, but our students deserve fully funded classrooms, not charity.

We’re tired of our Governor, other politicians who refuse to act, and an MPS administration who continues to pass cuts on to students and classrooms. We’ve had enough and we’re fighting back!

Over 1,500 educators, parents, and community supporters packed MPS Central Office on Tuesday to demand a better budget.

Last Tuesday, the MPS Central Office auditorium, three overflow rooms, and hallways were filled to capacity with educators, parents, and students to demand a better budget. Many MTEA and community members as well as students spoke out against the proposed cuts. Join us for these coming events as we continue to fight to demand our students & educators have the resources they deserve:

• Keep budget cuts away from schools!
• Time for teachers and educational assistants to meet the needs of their students.
• Quality affordable healthcare for ALL full-time education workers – including subs!
• Raises to attract and retain the education workers our students deserve.

Upcoming Events

4/18 Community Planning Meeting

MTEA is calling for an all MPS parent, student, and community member meeting to discuss cuts to our schools and next steps. Please invite parents and neighbors to attend this important meeting

4/24 Picket to Defend Our Schools

Last Tuesday, the MPS Central Office auditorium, three overflow rooms, and hallways were filled to capacity with educators, parents, and students to demand a better budget. Many MTEA and community members as well as students spoke out against the proposed cuts.

Milwaukee public School teacher Ingrid Henry-Walker had her microphone cut and was escorted out by security for expressing her opinion at a board meeting Tuesday night (Photo: Joe Brusky).

Public school districts are strongest when they collaborate and work together with parents and community members. To facilitate a healthy and democratic school district, school board meetings need to be accessible to the public and allow for constructive criticism.

The uptick in reports of publicly elected school boards restricting citizen comments is disturbing. Taxpayers should be able to openly criticize school district decisions, whether it’s a policy around recess, raises, or rent. Public voice should be heard and valued.

This week a video of Louisiana teacher Dayshia Hargrave went viral. Hargrave was speaking at a local school board meeting when her testimony was abruptly cut off and a law enforcement officer aggressively handcuffed her. Her violation: questioning the superintendent’s raise while other district educators had their pay frozen.

Louisiana teacher Dayshia Hargrave was violently handcuffed and arrested for simply expressing her opinion at a school board meeting.

A similar scene played out in Milwaukee on Tuesday night. Ingrid Walker-Henry, a Milwaukee Public Schools educator and the co-chair of a local coalition advocating for public schools in Milwaukee, testified against a lease extension for a private MPS charter school. While the committee chair, Michael Bonds, allowed off-topic and unsubstantiated testimony from supporters of the private charter, he abruptly cut off Ingrid Walker-Henry’s mic for speaking too broadly about the need for fair market lease rates on private charters that use public buildings.

Once her microphone was cut, Walker-Henry turned to the crowd and used her teacher voice to finish her testimony before she was escorted out of the building by district security.

Here is Walker-Henry’s full public testimony that was not allowed by School Board Director, Michael Bonds:

“We are calling on MPS to be more responsible with taxpayer dollars. There needs to be a fair market value lease rate that is charged to privately owned and operated charter schools.

School Board Minutes from 2006 reflect that MPS once had a board approved charter rate of $12/square foot. The current lease for Carmen Northwest is less than half of the 2006 board recommendation and some of the other charters come in at even less.

This raises serious concerns about the way you negotiate leases with private operators.

Last year, Universal Academies taught the District a hard lesson about these leases:
• The original leases approved for Universal in 2013 were for 5 years. Green Bay paid roughly $400,000 per year, Webster $380,000 per year and the Lee campus was for just $101,000 a year.

• In April 2016, the board actually lowered the lease rates for two Universal locations for the 2016-2017 school year.

• And as we all know, Universal DID NOT operate its fifth year in 2017-2018. They turned in their keys and abandoned some of the most economically disadvantaged students in our city. As a result of Universal’s failure, the district only received approximately $1 million total from each school, about half as much as the lease was for.
• The closing of Webster cost the district an additional $1 million.

We need privately owned and operated schools to pay a fair market value. I hope the school board revisits the entire policy regarding non-instrumentality charter leases to make sure they are paying their fair share and are not doing harm to the 76,000 students and families you were elected to govern and are responsible for and not the bad partners like Carmen who is actively working to put a city charter in the same building as one of your public schools.”

Democratic school boards have a moral obligation to provide a forum where local citizens can give meaningful input, both positive and negative, about the actions of the district.

As a result of sweeping changes to teacher licensure included in the now-complete state budget, the DPI is reporting that anyone who holds a current professional or master license will automatically have their license converted to a lifetime license. This will be done by DPI removing the expiration date from these licenses. There will be no fee charged to the license holder for the conversion to a lifetime license and there is no action teachers need to take with the DPI at this time for the lifetime license.

In short, the PDP component of PI 34 will no longer be required. For initial educators currently in the middle of the PDP process moving toward professional status, DPI will soon issue guidance about how the transition from initial to professional status will be handled. WEAC will continue to advocate for common-sense rules that uphold the integrity of the profession.

For new teachers coming into the profession, a school district needs to certify to DPI that an individual completed 6 semesters of work as an initial teacher, after which they will fulfill requirements for a lifetime license.

Public hearing for bill that mandates schools to use competitive bidding

Senate Bill 236, requiring school districts to use the competitive bidding process on certain school construction projects, will be up for a public hearing October 3, and pushed to a committee vote on October 5.

The governor Thursday signed the state budget into law, after using his veto power on several provisions.

The budget is a mixed bag for public schools. It represents a 6 percent increase in state funding for K-12 schools – the first public school increase in six years. That includes a per-pupil increase outside of the school funding formula of $200 and $204 each year of the budget. Increases in categorical aids are also included, in areas such as mental health supports and rural school support.

The budget also continues the state’s practice of siphoning funds from public schools to subsidize private school tuition. Private school vouchers will be increased $217 per pupil each year of the budget, and the income limit is expanded to allow high-earning households to receive tax-funded tuition vouchers. Special needs vouchers are also expanded, and funding is increased substantially.

Teacher licensure is upended, and you can be sure WEAC will advocate intensely as administrative rules and procedures are developed to ensure Wisconsin students have qualified teachers and that the education professions are maintained and respected for their critical role in our democracy.

Governor Walker vetoed a provision that would have increased the amount of money school districts that spend less per student than the state average can raise in property taxes.

Kim Kaukl, who oversees the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance, was quoted in the Wisconsin State Journal as saying the vetoed provision “would have allowed these districts an opportunity to move closer to an even playing field with neighboring districts. This veto continues to punish the districts that were frugal prior to revenue caps being instituted.”

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Gov. Scott Walker said Wednesday that he’s revising nearly 100 areas of the state’s new budget, axing a plan championed by Assembly Republicans to increase revenue for school districts that spend less than others and dramatically curtailing a popular state tax credit that helps restore historic buildings.

WEAC continues to monitor legislative activity and the impact on educators and working families. Look for our updates and encourage your colleagues to sign up for them as well. Direct your questions to communications@weac.org.

With the governor likely to act soon on a state budget that includes a funding increase at long last for public schools, WEAC members are pleased elected officials have responded to the public’s call to increase funding for public schools. And while educators are welcoming the positive aspects of the budget document, they are also advocating for several vetoes on provisions that do not serve students well. Those include:

Energy Efficiency
The proposal halts the ability for districts to exceed revenue limits for energy efficiency measures for one year. Last year, 120 districts utilized the exemption to enact long-term cost-saving measures. The governor, who originally sought to eliminate the exemption, says he’ll veto the program entirely when he takes up the budget.

Referendum RestrictionsRestrictions to local school referendums in the budget would tie the hands of local school boards when it comes to raising funds to keep schools afloat for students. Under the plan, referendums would only be allowed on the regularly scheduled election days – spring primary and general each year and the partisan primary and general in even-numbered years, or the second Tuesday in November of odd-numbered years. The governor says he plans to veto the ability to go to referendum in November of non-election years.

Voucher Income ExpansionIncome limits would be expanded for state-funded private school tuition vouchers in the statewide program. The current limit is $44,955 for a family of four in 2017-18. That would go to $53,460. Expanding the income limits would add an additional 550 students in 2018-19. Local school districts have to pay for those vouchers, and in the budget plan would be allowed to raise local property taxes. Statewide, that could signal an additional $30 million in property taxes.

Special Needs VouchersElimination of Prior Year Open Enrollment Requirement.Pupils would no longer have been denied under the open enrollment program in order to receive a special needs voucher. That change alone is estimated to increase the number of pupils in the program by 50 next year, and increase voucher payments by $621,400. The school districts the pupils live in would pay for the voucher tuition, but would be allowed to raise local property taxes to cover the private school price tag.

Eliminate Prior Year Public School Enrollment Requirement. Beginning next year, current private school students would receive tax-funded tuition under the special needs voucher program. Law now says they had to be enrolled in a public school the prior year. It is estimated that the change could increase the number of pupils participating in the program by 200 pupils next year and increase voucher payments by $2.5 million. Again, school districts would be allowed to raise local property taxes to cover the private school price tag.

Voucher Payments. In the first year a pupil receives a special needs voucher, the private school would receive $12,000 from the public school district. The following year, the private school would receive the greater amount of these two scenarios:

Either the actual costs incurred by the private school the year before based on what they file with the DPI to document what it cost to implement the child’s most recent IEP or services plan (as modified by agreement between the private school and the child’s parent) plus related services agreed to by the private school and the child’s parent that are not included in the IEP or services plan; or

A flat rate of $12,000.

This is a no-win for taxpayers, with private schools in the voucher program required to provide little to no accountability for meeting student needs or being fiscally responsible. State aid would be siphoned from local public school aid and shifted to private schools up to 150 percent of the per-pupil payment (again allowing school boards to raise local property taxes to make it up). Special needs voucher costs above the 150 percent would result in the state shifting tax dollars to cover the private school tuition bill, up to 90 percent above the remaining amount.

Privately Run Charter Schools
Allows any UW Chancellor and any technical college district board to authorize independent charter schools anywhere in the state.

Racine Unified Break-Apart PlanSimilar to the failed takeover maneuver aimed at Milwaukee Public Schools, Republican lawmakers included a break-apart plan that targets the Racine Unified School District. The proposal would allow a break-apart czar to be appointed by politicians and, if students score low on standardized tests, would give the district one year to improve test scores before allowing villages to create their own school districts.

Alternative teacher preparation programsInitial teaching licenses would be awarded to anyone with a bachelor’s degree and who has completed an alternative certification program (aka online licensing factories that refuse to meet minimum standards set by the legislature). Under the measure, the certification program must be operated by a provider that is a non-profit organization under the internal revenue code, that operates in at least five states and has been in operation for at least 10 years, and that requires the candidate to pass a subject area exam and the Professional Teaching Knowledge exam. This opens the door to outfits such as the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence, which operates in Florida, Arkansas and Tennessee, to name a few. The Board’s website promotes its program as a way to earn teacher certification in less than one year, without taking on debt or returning to school. Student teaching is not required as a basis of certification.

The budget is a mixed bag for public schools. It represents a 6 percent increase in state funding for K-12 schools – the first public school increase in six years. That includes a per-pupil increase outside of the school funding formula of $200 and $204 each year of the budget. Increases in categorical aids are also included, in areas such as mental health supports and rural school support.

The budget also continues the state’s practice of siphoning funds from public schools to subsidize private school tuition. Private school vouchers will be increased $217 per pupil each year of the budget, and the income limit is expanded to allow high-earning households to receive tax-funded tuition vouchers. Special needs vouchers are also expanded, and funding is increased substantially.

According to senators who held up a vote based on their objections, the governor has already agreed to use his veto pen to:

Remove an option for school districts to hold a special election in November of odd-numbered years. The measure is part of referendum restrictions contained in the budget requiring districts to conduct referendums only on regularly scheduled primary and general election days.

Eliminate the energy efficiency exemption to the school district revenue limit. Districts currently are allowed to undertake cost-saving efficiency measures outside of the revenue limit, but this puts an end to that option starting in the first year of the budget.

Repeal prevailing wage on state projects immediately, instead of the in September 2018.

The Senate voted 19-14 to pass the budget, with all Republicans except Sen. David Craig, from the Town of Vernon, in favor and all Democrats against. Craig objected to overall spending increases.

Key amendments for schools voted downSenate Democrats introduced budget amendments allowing Wisconsinites to refinance student loans through a new state authority, accepting the Medicaid expansion, boosting funding for broadband expansion grants and putting more money toward K-12. All were voted down. Senator Janet Bewley of Ashland said Republicans approved a $3 billion incentive package for Foxconn while underfunding rural schools. “We shouldn’t pay Foxconn first and our kids later. This is not fair. I am not proud of this budget.”

The Assembly Education Committee has scheduled a vote on several education-related bills for Thursday, including AB 423 to expand teacher licenses for Montessori programs; AB 477 to incorporate into law a supplemental aid program for a school district having 500 or fewer pupils and that is at least 200 square miles; and AB 488 to require the Department of Public Instruction to make available, upon request, practice examinations or sample items related to knowledge and concept examinations required to be administered under state law. Under current law, DPI must allow a person to view a knowledge and concepts examination if the person submits a written request within 90 days after the examination is administered.

WEAC continues to monitor legislative activity and the impact on educators and working families. Look for our updates and encourage your colleagues to sign up for them as well. Direct your questions to communications@weac.org.

The State Assembly passed the budget Wednesday, which now goes to the Senate on Friday. Take this opportunity to contact your senators about the education issues that are important to you on WEAC’s Take Action Page.

The budget passed 57-39. Opposing the measure were all Democrats and Republicans Scott Allen (Waukesha), Janel Brandtjen (Menomonee Falls), Bob Gannon (West Bend), Adam Jarchow (Balsam Lake) and Joe Sanfelippo (New Berlin). Insiders say the Senate doesn’t yet have the votes to pass the budget, with major sticking points around transportation, increased spending and several K-12 issues that are still being sought including increasing voucher income eligibility to 300 percent of the federal poverty level instead of the current bump to 220 percent; including even more referendum restrictions to allow school boards to rescind previously passed referendums and excluding the amount levied through referendum from shared costs in the equalization aid formula; and making the repeal of the energy efficiency exemption effective in the first year of the budget.

Senate passes $3 billion Foxconn billThe Senate on Tuesday approved the $3 billion Foxconn bill, 20-13, with GOP Sen. Robert Cowles opposing it and Dem Bob Wirch voting for the proposal. The bill included an amendment that maintains the appeals court’s role in any lawsuits filed over decisions related to the economic development zone where the Foxconn project is located. However, the appeals process is sped up.

Coming up in the LegislatureThe Senate Education Committee will hold public hearings Thursday on bills relating to professional development in character education (SB 329), tuberculosis screening for school employees (SB 382) and changing the payment schedules for public, voucher and independently run charter schools (SB 383).

Career & Tech Ed GrantsThe Assembly Committee on Workforce Development met Tuesday on AB 192 (companion bill SB 127), relating to career and technical education incentive grants. This bill removes the per pupil limitation on career and technical education incentive grants that the Department of Workforce Development awards to school districts. Under current law, DWD must award a grant to a school district in the amount of $1,000 per pupil who, in the prior school year, obtained a high school diploma and successfully completed an industry-recognized certification program approved by DWD. Under the bill, DWD must award $1,000 for each certification program completed by a pupil.

WEAC continues to monitor legislative activity and the impact on educators and working families. Look for our updates and encourage your colleagues to sign up for them as well. Direct your questions to communications@weac.org.